Michael Dunn, Jordan Davis and the plight of black boys

Defendant Michael Dunn is brought into the courtroom just before 5 p.m., where Judge Russell Healey announced that the jury was deadlocked on charge one and have verdicts on the other four charges as they deliberate in the trial of Dunn, Saturday, for the shooting death of Jordan Davis in Nov. 2012. Dunn is charged with fatally shooting 17-year-old Davis after an argument over loud music outside a Jacksonville convenience store. (AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Bob Mack, Pool)

About Solomon Jones

NewsWorks blogger Solomon Jones is the author of eight novels, including the critically-acclaimed "Pipe Dream" (Random House), and has been featured nationally by media outlets like NPR and CNN Headline News.

Formerly a professor of creative writing at Temple University, Solomon is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Essence, Newsday, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In 2013, Solomon along with prominent authors like Noam Chomsky, was selected as one of 50 writers representing Philadelphia's literary legacy. He is the creator of Words on the Street, a program that works with national and local partners to help students and parents improve literacy through writing.

Solomon, a lifelong Philadelphian, is senior writer for Axis Philly and a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. His latest novel is "The Dead Man’s Wife."

I prayed that I, as the black father of a black son, would be able to forgive, to heal, and to move forward.

I prayed that I, as the black father of a black son, would be able to look ahead in love rather than staring back in hate.

I prayed that I, as the black father of a boy much like the late Jordan Davis, would not be consumed with rage like Davis’ murderer, Michael Dunn.

I prayed for the state of Florida, a place where Dunn, a white man, was convicted only of second-degree attempted murder, even after admitting that he sprayed a car with bullets, killed a black boy in cold blood, and drove away with impunity.

I prayed for Florida, a place where George Zimmerman could claim celebrity status after escaping conviction for the murder of Trayvon Martin.

I prayed because I know Florida’s legacy of hating black boys goes well beyond Dunn and Zimmerman. I prayed because I know Florida's awful truth.

Looking back

My father grew up in small-town Florida, and while he saw kindnesses big and small as a boy, he also endured the kind of racism that our boys face in Florida today.

As a nine-year-old, he made the unforgivable mistake of walking into a store through the front door. Everything stopped as a sea of pasty white faces stared at him, outraged. They demanded that he enter through the back.

My father never forgot that day, and I’m glad he shared that story with me, because now I know how to pray.

Hidden, but still there

I pray because the same back-door mentality that existed in 1955, when my father walked into that store, continues to exist today. Only now, that mentality simmers beneath the foundations of a system that feigns equality while delivering anything but.

I pray because the same bigots that would discriminate against a little child a generation ago have passed on racism to their progeny.

I pray because the so-called equality that America so proudly touts has eluded our black boys.

Their lives do not have equal value in America.

If they did, we would do more to address the fact that black boys continue to have some of the highest high-school dropout rates and lowest literacy rates in the country.

If they did, we would not sit by and watch zero tolerance policies push black boys out of school.

If they did, we wouldn’t see one black boy after another gunned down with impunity.

That is the truth. And until we muster the courage to stare that truth in the face and speak against it, work against it, even pray against it, that truth will remain a constant. And so I pray.

I pray that America will join me in taking a long, hard look at itself. I pray that we will realize that our black boys are in danger long before they face men like Dunn. I pray that America will join me in making sure our country’s justice is equal.

But if America will not join me in having that conversation — if America continues to believe the lies it has told itself regarding equality — then I will seek out those who want to make change. And together we will grab hold of our boys, we will grab hold of ourselves, and we will work.

We will work in our schools because that is where our boys are given short shrift.

We will work in our homes because that is where our boys must learn to be men.

We will work in our communities because that’s where our boys must learn to be leaders.

Because even if our country doesn’t believe our boys have value, I do. And it’s time to put that belief into action.

I pray that America will join me in taking a long, hard look at itself. I pray that we will realize that our black boys are in danger long before they face men like Dunn. I pray that America will join me in making sure our country’s justice is equal.

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